If Ben Tate can't get more then 2 years, $7 million in his prime, LeGarrette Blount should basically be free, right?
2014 FA: Building 19 Opened for Bizzness
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Jed Zeppelin said:
Buchanan showed flashes before getting benched for failing to keep contain -- perhaps he'll take a step forward. Am happy to get Allen if that happens and certainly agree a rotation would be preferable, but also happy with the pass rush as it was last season and suspect that Collins will make it even better.
They might blitz a little more, but it's not a sustainable way to get pressure, especially against teams / QBs that know what they're doing. Kelly and Armstead are wildcards (if they are healthy and make the roster), as is Chris Jones, who had 5 sacks in his first 5 games and just 1 after that.Ed Hillel said:
I've made this point in the draft thread, but I think the ideal fit is someone like Ra'Shede Hageman or Stephon Tuitt who can play end in a three-man front or 3-technique in a 4-man front. It gives them the option to switch between 3-man and 4-man fronts, switch up who's rushing and from where (Ninkovich can drop into coverage while Collins rushes, for instance) and provides more pass rush on passing downs.
I agree with this logic. I'd love them to grab a Hageman with their 1st and then the best available interior OL in the second. Use the draft to rebuild in the trenches a bit.Super Nomario said:
I don't have access to PFF, so I can't comment, but it seems a little curious that they devised the pressure points system, which puts the Pats at 20 and rank them 31 by another measure. Also, fwiw, the pressure points system does not seem to have any opponent adjustments.Super Nomario said:
I recognize that sacks are not an accurate measure of pass rush generally, but I'm skeptical that a team that's top 5 in sacks is in the bottom half of the league in pass rush efficiency.
I think they can certainly stand to improve the pass rush, and add some depth, but I see more pressing needs at TE, the interior DL, and the interior OL.
I'd imagine that a reproducible way to measure a team's pass rush would be avg. opponent time from snap to throw.
That obviously has it's own flaws (if you have horrendous coverage, no one will take long to pass) but would be a nice thing to know in the context of sacks, pressures, etc.
That obviously has it's own flaws (if you have horrendous coverage, no one will take long to pass) but would be a nice thing to know in the context of sacks, pressures, etc.
Right - the Patriots for example are going to have very low average throw times because of their quick passes, wide receiver screens, etc, whereas the Buccaneers last year would have pretty long average throw times, since they were pretty obsessed with throwing it deep.
Re running backs and the draft..
This is my assessment as well:
You're going to find a lot of skilled RB's in this draft class but not many who have the full package. But if you need a power back and a speed/receiving back there will be plenty to choose from.
This is my assessment as well:
You're going to find a lot of skilled RB's in this draft class but not many who have the full package. But if you need a power back and a speed/receiving back there will be plenty to choose from.
Please make this happen.
Curtis Crabtree @Curtis_Crabtree 19m
RT @ErskineTheGreat: Source: DT Henry Melton's agents are in serious contract negotiations with the Seattle #Seahawks #NFLFreeAgency
Curtis Crabtree @Curtis_Crabtree 19m
RT @ErskineTheGreat: Source: DT Henry Melton's agents are in serious contract negotiations with the Seattle #Seahawks #NFLFreeAgency
[Mod note: moving WR talk to a new thread: http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/82270-name-that-wr-which-fa-receiver-to-consider/]
Lol. This new cold war between Denver and NE is getting out of hand. Per Scefter:
Could Welker be cut?
triniSox said:
Don't know about that. Decker was very good in the redzone, I can't see Sanders duplicating his TD production.
SeoulSoxFan said:
Despite all signs that Welker would never come back to NE, if he was cut I would hope some serious thought would be had to bringing him back because...
He knows Denver's playbook.
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Lets learn from the SeaHawks.triniSox said:
The Pats don't need Moreno to beat the Broncos, they need Morepressure on Peyton.to beat the Broncos. And Peyton will cooperate in his own demise.
bankshot1 said:
Honestly? I don't think Manning was under that much pressure in the Super Bowl. Sure, the pass rush got there at key times, but I though he was under a lot less duress than Brady was in the AFCCG, for instance. I think Seattle's physical coverage screwed up his timing and intimidated his receivers more than anything. I also want the Pats to make some signings to improve the pass rush, but I don't think that is absolutely necessary to beat Denver, nor do I believe pressure was the main component of Seattle's dominant defensive performance in the Super Bowl.
triniSox said:
Rolando McClain wants to make a comeback. Maybe trade a 5th or 6th rounder to Baltimore for his rights.
HEHrodderick said:
I guess we must have watched a different game.
Peyton under pressure makes less than optimal choices. That's why he usually finds a way to lose against good teams in the post-season.
I think it's a combination of both. Manning went to his "pressure-beater" plays like quick screens, bubble screens etc. but Seattle showed they could tackle (and ferociously at that). That made him hold the ball longer and the pressure got there at times.
Side note: it's amazing how high quality NFL analysis takes places on the BBTL forum now. Kudos to everyone who built it up. The premier NEP forum now IMO
Side note: it's amazing how high quality NFL analysis takes places on the BBTL forum now. Kudos to everyone who built it up. The premier NEP forum now IMO
IMO Manning and his receivers were under pressure all SB. He didn't have the adequate time to attack the SeaHawks deep. IIRC a greater % of his passes in the SB were shorter than he typically throws.
But the original-larger point was the Pats have relied on more on offense than defense to win, but I think we've learned that defense tends to win deep in the post-season
And if I had a choice of adding another offensive asset vs a defensive assets, I'd add defense. I think an improved pass-rush would be hugely complimentary to what appears to be a very strong secondary.
But the original-larger point was the Pats have relied on more on offense than defense to win, but I think we've learned that defense tends to win deep in the post-season
And if I had a choice of adding another offensive asset vs a defensive assets, I'd add defense. I think an improved pass-rush would be hugely complimentary to what appears to be a very strong secondary.
I don't know how reliable Jerry Thornton is but he says the above. He's the guy that comes on to talk patriots with Felger and Mazz weekly and he thinks he's funny but he isn't at all.
As it has been pointed out elsewhere, a pass rush might not have helped the Patriots against Denver last year because the receivers were getting open so quickly Manning was getting the ball off very fast.
Coverage is obviously expected to be very different this season, but I bring it up to emphasize the complementary nature of the parts, and also how it relates to match-ups.
Edit: what I mean in bringing this up is that there were games last year where it's not clear that it even made that much sense to try to bring pressure (although obviously you try to keep the offense honest) because they weren't going to get there anyway, which demanded more assets in position to cover and affected schemes. I think this is going to be a very different defense and not just because of the personnel. I think SuperNomario may well be right, though, that a good interior rusher could make it basically awesome.
Coverage is obviously expected to be very different this season, but I bring it up to emphasize the complementary nature of the parts, and also how it relates to match-ups.
Edit: what I mean in bringing this up is that there were games last year where it's not clear that it even made that much sense to try to bring pressure (although obviously you try to keep the offense honest) because they weren't going to get there anyway, which demanded more assets in position to cover and affected schemes. I think this is going to be a very different defense and not just because of the personnel. I think SuperNomario may well be right, though, that a good interior rusher could make it basically awesome.
The Pressure Points system isn't PFF, it's Greg Bedard at MMQB. So you have two independent sources (Bedard and PFF) both calling the pass rush below-average.You're right that neither adjusts for opponent, but I haven't looked into how that would affect things. Eyeballing it, the Pats played 5 of the 7 best teams in ASR, but the 3 divisional opponents were all in the bottom 6, so I'm guessing it's about a wash.MarcSullivaFan said:
I think the secondary was above-average last year for most of the year, leading to coverage sacks that weren't necessarily the product of a strong pass rush.MarcSullivaFan said:
Agreed those are the top three needs, though I think "interior DL" is best fixed with someone who can help get after the QB.MarcSullivaFan said:
Seattle's physical coverage did screw up Denver's timing, but the other key part of that equation is that the pressure was able to get there quickly so the offense couldn't get their timing back. The downside of press is that if / when the receiver can beat the initial jam, he can get open deep down the field. That's especially true against Seattle, which has big corners who run 4.6 40's. Having a good pass rush is integral to what Seattle is doing defensively. A guy like Browner can be torched if he's playing behind a sub-par pass rush. That's why the Seahawks went out and signed a bunch of DL last offseason.rodderick said:
Did you see Browner's YAC numbers per PFF (SSF posted them elsewhere)? They seem absurdly low. Can you offer any insight into how that was managed for a guy who would seem to be not as fast as some and not great in lateral quickness?Super Nomario said:
Could those just be a function of lack of WR separation due to the pass rush? Or what kind of other scheming help stuff does the rush allow for? Or what...?
I wouldn't read too much into it. He only allowed 20 receptions (partially because he missed basically half the year), so we're dealing with a really small sample size. His 2011 and 2012 YAC figures are more normal. They're still low, probably partially because he's a good tackler, partially because the Seahawks in general are good tacklers, and largely because the Seahawks don't give up much short stuff.Reverend said:
The link you posted says that PFF helped them design the system. Which, given that Bedard isn't a stats guy, I took to mean that Bedard gave them a concept and they designed the system.Super Nomario said:
Thanks, I missed that.MarcSullivaFan said:
It looks like PFF's role is they provide the hits and hurries (more methodology detail here: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/01/03/nfl-playoffs-purple-chippers/2/).
It looks like the Pats suffered because of those hits and hurries, and also because they had a lot of "other" sacks. They define "easy" sacks above (it looks like they changed the terminology from "easy" to "other" at some point) as:
That fits with my impression: a lot of the sacks were coverage sacks.
From @Rapsheet: Sanders verbally accepted deal with Chiefs, execs crying foul http://t.co/EvOGJn5his
That article is pretty damning. I was wondering why Pats had cooled so much on Sanders. Could have been because of Weinberg's shenanigans.
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If KC feels they were screwed they can file a grievance against the agent
CBA gives Chiefs the ability to file grievance against Sanders, agent for bad-faith negotiations http://t.co/LneyVMZKbE
CBA gives Chiefs the ability to file grievance against Sanders, agent for bad-faith negotiations http://t.co/LneyVMZKbE
adamteicher Adam Teicher
Not expecting #Chiefs to say anything publicly on this Sanders situation, but don't be confused. They're plenty mad
Not expecting #Chiefs to say anything publicly on this Sanders situation, but don't be confused. They're plenty mad
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